The Skin Diseases Research Center at the University of Wisconsin (UWSDRC) has collected 40 outstanding investigators from 16 Departments, 5 Schools and 7 Centers, all engaged in cutaneous cell death and differentiation research. The UW-Madison is an institution renowned for its academic environment which is conducive to innovative interdisciplinary approaches to biomedical research and education. All members of the UWSDRC have active research programs relevant to cutaneous biology and a broad range of skin diseases. UWSDRC investigators leverage $4.3M of annual direct support ($1.5M from NIAMS) to advance cutaneous cell death and differentiation research. The UWSDRC will be based in the Department of Dermatology to which the School of Medicine and Public Health made a major commitment when it recruited the proposed UWSDRC Director, Gary S. Wood, and Associate Director, Hasan Mukhtar. Major resources have been incorporated into Dermatology including departmental status, seven tenure-track faculty positions, 56,000 SF of space, start-up and retention packages, and more than $10M in endowments devoted exclusively to supporting research. Beginning with no extramural support in 2001, Dermatology has consistently ranked among the top 10-20 NIH skin disease research programs for several years. If the UWSDRC is funded, the Dean, UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research (ICTR) and Department of Dermatology will commit an additional 1,600 SF of new space and up to $2.2M to supplement the NIH funds. The UWSDRC will contain an Administrative Core and 3 service cores (Cell Culture Core (CCC), Experimental Cutaneous Pathology Core (ECPC) and Evolving Technology Core (ETC)) as well as an Enrichment Program including pilot and feasibility studies, visiting professors, mentoring and gender/minority awareness. The UWSDRC will maximize performance and resources by coordinating with a wide array of existing UW-Madison core facilities and Department of Dermatology programs.